Friday, July 29, 2016

We have had a crazy week where we have gone non-stop! For some reason though I have hardly any pictures to show for it. I am not usually like that...proves to me there is a reason I. AM. SO. TIRED. Anyway...last night I attended Kel's Stella and Dot party. The new items came out and there are so many awesome pieces! I am going to share some of my favorites....;) Link up with Erika, Andrea, and Narci to share some of your Friday Favs!

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

It's that time again...I can't believe it. It's the last Wednesday of July. It hurts my heart to even type that out. 2016 will go down as the fastest year of my life so far...it's crazy!!! I love link ups especially around this time of year. I enjoy reading back to school traditions and all about everyone's summer fun! I am linking up with Larson Lingo, Shay, and Sheaffer today.

What we're eating this week...

M- Gouda Burgers (from Time for Dinner)

T- steak and sweet potatoes

W- Jammin' at the Zoo, kids w/sitter

T- Cheddar chicken bites w/corn on the cob

F & S - out of town

What I/'m reminiscing about...

This weekend is the PGA Championship. Mark and I were able to go in 2014. A teammate from college qualified and was playing in the tournament. There was a group of old friends that met up...we had a blast together!

What I'm loving...

These 2 and our summer time together...what's not to love!!!

What we've been up to...

swimming, swimming, and more swimming ;)

What I'm dreading...

Back to School...I am totally being that mom that just isn't ready for her kids to start back to school.

I did mention about trying to finish the toy/play area part of the basement soon! Slow and steady, LOL!

What I am excited about...

We leave for the beach in about a month. We have been watching others take vacations all summer....soon we will be the ones with our toes in the sand!! Whoop whoop!!!

What I'm watching/reading...

What I'm listening to...

I don't really listen to much. ;( I don't have much alone time at the house during the summer but if I did I would probably have Pandora playing. We don't have the tv on much either because it's just another noise going...hence my not listening to much currently. LOL!

What I am wearing...
If I am honest I have been wearing a "whole lotta swimsuits." ;) You can add a pair of cutoff denim shorts (I couldn't find the reg. denim color so I linked the green) and these tank tops and that's about it. It's summer right?!?!?

What I am doing this weekend...

We are going on an adult weekend!! It will be our second annual float trip with some super fun friends. I can't wait!!

What I am looking forward to next month...

This group of high school friends and fondue. My mom and great aunt started a "farewell fondue" dinner for us while we were in college. When each summer was over before we all headed back to college in different directions we had a fun evening together. We did it 4 years of college and even took a trip to Mexico together after we all graduated.

Katherine, first one the left, is currently living in China. Her and her family are back in the states visiting for a few weeks. Now, even at 30 we remain friends. A few of us were together a few weeks ago and decided it would be fun to have another farewell dinner. What's a girl to do but call up my mama?!?!!? If you have been reading for any amount of time you know my mom loves to entertain. She is excited as well to host an evening with the gang. I am looking forward to that evening so much!!

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

We had such a bust weekend but it was so much fun! Friday funday we headed straight to the movies. The Secret Life of Pets is a must see. It was so cute and the kids loved it!! We grabbed lunch at one of our favorite places and then had to make a trip to IKEA.

Mark and I decided to divide and conquer. We know IKEA like the back of our hand thanks to owning EXPEDITEstl for 6 years. Unlike a lot of others...IKEA wasn't somewhere we wanted to be on a Friday afternoon. We are finishing the "play side" of the basement. It's coming together...finally!!!

Mark finished before me so he decided to grab the kids an ice cream cone. He forgot to tell the lady kids size please. #itwasamess #wesatonthecurbforever

Friday night we invited some friends to the Cardinals game. Like always...we had a BLAST! We went early so we could grab dinner. It's always fun to hang with Steve and Juli, the game a was bonus. HA HA!

Saturday morning we drove down to my parents in Jackson. Our first stop was baby Willa. I was the only one that had seen her and she was already an ENTIRE week old! If you can't tell by their faces they are IN LOVE with the new baby girl.

After visiting baby Willa we all needed a swim at Eesie and Poppie's pool! We don't get to swim with Zetta and Nora often. They all HAD A BLAST together!! Hence those smiling faces....

Saturday evening my parent's hosted a graduation party for my brother. We had a fish fry (plus lots more fried goodness), corn hole tournament, swimming, and great fellowship! It was a blast had by all for sure!!

Sunday morning we packed up and headed home from my parent's about lunchtime. Mark's cousins family is here from AZ and we all met for ice cream. It was a packed place but managed to snap a few pictures of everyone together.

Like I said...a crazy weekend but one full of fun! I wouldn't want it any other way. ;)

Monday, July 25, 2016

I am linking up with Erika, and Andrea today talking about SCHOOL DAYS. To be honest I don't want to even hear the word school much less post about it. ;( This mama's heart is NOT ready for school to start. Wyatt starts the big Kindergarten this year and Sloane will be in Pre-K. Where does the time go?!?!!? Don't worry, I know not to blink or they will be in high school. #lordhelpme

I have already been reading some of the other blogs that linked up and I am loving all the fun activities and outlooks other mama's have about school starting back. Andrea posted, "instead of focusing on what we're all going to miss we like to focus on all the fun and exciting things coming up." While this is WAY easier said than done I think I am going to make this my motto for the next few weeks.

This is the first year Wyatt has to wear uniforms. #prayforme I am hoping this works for the best. The practice run I had to break the news he has to tuck in his shirt and wear a belt was a little rough...so....ya. ;/ We are good to go with uniforms and backpack. We still have to purchase some new tennis shoes but then we are ready to go!

Sloane isn't ever lacking in the clothes dept. so she is good to go as well. In preschool and pre-K the school provides a bag they are to carry so we don't need a backpack for Sis. She wasn't really happy about but such is life right!?!?

(I didn't want to retake another picture and this is one I texted to show my SIL the backpack...LOL!)

We waited for Pottery Barn to put their last years designs on sale and Wyatt picked his bag. I went through and took a screen shot of all the ones I thought would be good then let him pick from those. It was guided picking for him. ;) He is going to K half day so we don't need a lunch box. Phew!! Other than the backpack getting lost in the mail and me having to open an investigation with UPS all went well. LOL! I was so nervous it wouldn't ever get here.

Last year we had a super fun back to school dinner and I plan to do the same thing again this year. We had so much fun preparing and partying together. We have asked Wyatt to give us a special place to go and a something/some where to eat before he starts K. He wants to eat crab legs and shrimp with butter and he wants to go to Build-a-Bear and actually build a bear. ;) All things we can totally handle...

I have a few more fun traditions I plan to start this year since he is officially in school now. I am still preparing for those...since I do have a few more weeks right?!!?! ;(

I can't wait to read more from others mama's and their back to school details!!

Friday, July 22, 2016

It's Friday once again...I can't believe how fast this week flew by. I am linking up with Erika, Narci, and Andrea to share some of my favorites. Since Mark was gone all weekend last weekend it was as if I didn't have a weekend. It really got my days all mixed up! LOL!!! We had a week full of fun! On Monday we swam with cousins....as always fun had by ALL. ;)

Tuesday I took the kids to Time for Dinner. It's a fun place you can make your own freezer meals. I had been before with other women in the evening but the kids had never been. I knew they would have a blast because they both enjoy helping in the kitchen. It was SO FUN!!! Since my sister just had a baby we stocked up on a few extras meal as well to take to her family this weekend. ;)

I found this on my phone last night...I had to slip in into my "favorites" post because why not!?!?!?

Gotta love snap chat- if you don't follow me you can find me at mremschmitz ;) I am still VERY new to snapchat and have been trying get on the band wagon...LOL! If you go follow me please have a little grace...;)

Last Sunday I prepared a few mason jar salads for our lunches. It was AMAZING!!! It was fast, easy, and was still great on Wednesday. You can read about it HERE.

Another picture I have to post is the cleanse I did this week. I had done it once before but the results keep getting better and better. It's 2 days only. You drink one in the morning and one before dinner for 2 days. It helped me so much with bloating and I felt so good! Plus I lost 4.2 lbs!! ;) It's a win win!! You can get your own cleanse HERE

Wednesday night was our Summer church picnic...it was HOT but we had a great time. We ate dinner, had snow cones (hence Sis's blue mouth), and the kids got to jump in all different bounce houses.

Thursday, July 21, 2016

Sunday evening I decided to put together a few mason jar salads. I have had a few friends tell me about them but I never "took the plunge." I do prepare a lot of our food ahead of time and so this was perfect for us as a family. Mark's work schedule calls for me to prepare 3 lunches for the work week. I had researched ( using Pinterest) quite a bit about the so called mason jar salad. LOL! I don't like to waste food so this was a pretty expensive experiment. Ha ha!

A lot of what I read stated the salads only lasted about 3 days...so I didn't want to make too many. Mark is sort of picky so I have to be careful the type of salad I made...I didn't have the meat prepared at the time so I used extra black beans to make up for the lost protein. ;)

Like I said, I made these salads Sunday evening.

dressing(greek yogurt, salsa, taco seasoning), black beans, avocado, tomatoes, corn, black olives, cheese, and lettuce FYI: I used the large mason jars. They have a big opening at the top and I think that makes a HUGE difference. It's easier to shake and eat as well...per Mark. ;)

Mark ate the last one yesterday...which was Wednesday, even the avocado tasted great! I didn't use anything to make it stay fresh longer. I posted the picture above on Instagram and I had lots of questions. I am doing my best to answer all of them in this post. I ate one of the salads on Tuesday. It was perfect to empty into a bowl for me. Since I was at home it was just easier for me...it all poured into the bowl in order...lettuce on bottom.

Mark has asked I not add the tomatoes next time so I will be leaving those out...I will also add some ground turkey or chicken. The salad was SO filling! I couldn't finish it. Next time I will also add a little more lettuce and less dressing as well.

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

A few weekends ago we spent the weekend at the Lake of the Ozarks. We had a blast!! We stayed with friends at their family's lake house. It was a perfect little getaway as a family.

Growing up we spent a lot of weekends at the lake. Some of my best childhood memories are those Saturdays on the boat as a family. We swam at the dock on Friday then Saturday we took the boat our for the day. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant that had a pool...

Sunday morning they were all ready to tube! It took a little bit but it wasn't long before everyone was on it together! ;)